Home Loan Bank of

Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas W e are a cooperatively owned wholesale bank that supports housing and economic development in the communities served by our member institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. Our credit products and other financial services help members deliver financial products to fund housing, small business, rural development and agriculture. Specialized community investment and affordable housing loan and grant programs help finance community redevelopment and expand affordable housing opportunities. Members include commercial banks, savings institutions, credit unions and insurance companies. In The News • Community Investment Program Update • Bulletin 2005-14 Dividend for Fourth Quarter 2005 • Disaster Relief Advances for Texas Counties Affected By Fire • Advisory Council Appointments • Disaster Relief Grant Program • Disaster Relief Advances Available for Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi and Texas Quick Links • Investor Relations • Guides & Forms Send comments, questions, and suggestions to fhlb@fhlb.com . © 2005 Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. All Rights Reserved. FHLB Dallas website information disclaimer . The material on this site is for informational purposes only. By moving to the next screen, all viewers acknowledge that the presentation of this material (i) does not represent investment advice, (ii) does not constitute an offer to extend credit, a grant or subsidy, and (iii) does not constitute investment solicitation or an offer to buy securities. It is the sole responsibility of the user to check the accuracy of assumptions or other information contained on this site. VIEW FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OF DALLAS - World Wide Web (www.fhlb.com) PRIVACY and SECURITY DOCTRINE

Home Equity Loans -

Home Equity Loans - Agony or Ecstasy  You are here: About > Money > Credit / Debt Management > Getting Money and Credit > Mortgage & Equity Loans > Home Equity Loans - Agony or Ecstasy Money Credit / Debt Essentials Credit And Credit File Fundamentals Basics Of Reducing Debt Credit and Debt Workshop Fast Financial Independence Debt Counseling Primer Articles & Resources Bankruptcy & Settlement Budgeting & Frugality Credit Law Credit Reports and Scoring Debt Counseling Debt Reduction Financial Planning Fraud and Protection Getting Money and Credit Learning About Money Smart Shopping Students and Education Tips, Essentials, Archives Buyer's Guide Before You Buy Top Picks Guide Picks - Top Books On Credit & Debt Compare Insurance Carriers Compare Utility and Loan Providers Product Reviews Forums Help FREE Newsletter Sign Up Now for the Credit / Debt Management newsletter! See Online Courses   Search Credit / Debt Management Stay up to date! Email to a friend Print this page Suggested Reading Biweekly Mortgage Payments The 'How-To' of Home Financing Mortgage Closiong Costs Suggested Reading Predatory Lenders Most Popular WARNING! Rising Minimum Payme Free Annual Credit Report Cleaner Credit Raises Scores Changes to the Bankruptcy Law Debt To Income Ratio What's Hot How To Consolidate Debt Credit / Debt Management - Articles Establishing Credit - Credit/Debt Management PayDay Loans Credit Problems.... Now What? Related Topics Frugal Living Financial Planning Online Shopping Banking / Loans Family Internet Home Equity Loans... Agony or Ecstasy From Apply Now , Your Guide to Credit / Debt Management . FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! Home Equity Loans - a dream come true or a living nightmare. A Home Equity Loan can be a dream come true or a living nightmare. It all depends on how you approach a home equity loan and for what reason you actually want the home equity in your hand instead of your home. If your intent is to reduce debt so that you have breathing room to pay more on other debts, a home equity loan MAY BE on the right track. However, if your objective is to have more breathing room so that you can add more debt, you are heading for a natural disaster. Basics of a Home Equity Loan - Good and Bad What is a home equity loan? A home equity loan is a second mortgage. It uses the collateral of your home to secure a loan. Good news - Because this is a secured loan, its interest is less than on many loans such as on a credit card. This is very attractive. Equally attractive is the fact that because it is a second mortgage, interest can offer a tax deduction. That's the good news. Bad news - But if a home equity loan is used to pay off unsecured debt such as a credit card, what you have done in essence is convert an unsecured debt into a secured debt with your home as the security. This is not a very sound plan. Not only that but just as when you default on your primary mortgage you could lose your home, so too you can lose your home by defaulting on your home equity loan. More bad news- Another draw back that has developed over the last few years is that often you can borrow more than your house is worth... up to 125% of the value of your home. This is called negative equity and means that if you sell the house because of a job transfer or any other reason, you must either get enough to pay off both loans or you will be paying off the home equity loan when you are trying to buy another home. Still more bad news - There is one other negative side to a home equity loan. You will have points and closing costs to get the loan just as you had when you got your first mortgage. Home Equity Warnings! Okay, so I did not scare you off with the above and you are still determined to get a home equity loan. What are the danger signs and issues to be watchful for? FTC warns: "The lender doesn't care if you can't keep up with the monthly payments. As soon as you don't, the lender will foreclose-taking your home and stripping you of the equity you have spent years building. If you take out a loan but don't have enough income to make the monthly payments, you are being set up. You probably will lose your home." Watch out for lowered payments because there is a balloon payment at the end. Balloon payments are large lump payments due as the last payment. Don't do it! Avoid home improvement cam which begin construction before any financing is settled. See Scams To Help You Lose Your Home . Avoid pre-payment penalties. If you want to pay off your loan ahead of time, you should not pay a fee to do so. A 10% prepayment fee is not uncommon... but is a lot of money. Avoid rate increases by avoiding missed or late payments. FTC Offers These Do's And Don t's: Don't agree to a home equity loan if you don't have enough income to make the monthly payments. Don's sign any document you haven't read or any document that has blank spaces to be filled in after you sign or let anyone pressure you into signing any document. Don't agree to a loan that includes credit insurance or extra products you don't want. Don's let the promise of extra cash or lower monthly payments get in the way of your good judgment about whether the cost you will pay for the loan is really worth it. Don't deed your property to anyone. First consult an attorney, a knowledgeable family member, or someone else you trust. DO ask specifically if credit insurance is required as a condition of the loan. If it isn't, and a charge is included in your loan and you don't want the insurance, ask that the charge be removed from the loan documents. If you want the added security of credit insurance, shop around for the best rates. DO keep careful records of what you've paid, including billing statements and canceled checks. Challenge any charge you think is inaccurate. Do check contractors' references when it is time to have work done in your home. Get more than one estimate. Important disclaimer information about this About site.        Topic Index | Email to a Friend Our Story | Be a Guide | Advertising Info | Work at About | Site Map | Icons | Help User Agreement | Ethics Policy | Patent Info. | Privacy Policy | Kids' Privacy Policy ©2005 About, Inc., A part of the New York Times Company . All rights reserved. Around About New Video iPod - Review POLL: Must-Have Gadgets VIDEO: Portable Gaming VIDEO: Choosing a TV Hugh Hefner's Life What's Hot How To Consolidate Debt Credit / Debt Management - Articles Establishing Credit - Credit/Debt Management PayDay Loans Credit Problems.... Now What?

Selling Home

Home Selling - Home Selling Testimonials - Home Sell a Home Buy a Home Services Mortgages City Profiles Appraisals -- Service Directory Foreclosures Mortgages Service Providers Appraise Your Home Moving & Relocation Home Improvement Title Company Search Insurance Lawyers Virtual Tours Home Builders Real Estate Agents Research What is FSBO? City Profiles City Comparisons School Reports Crime Comparisons Salary Calculator Cost of Living Comp. Home Sale Prices Tools Free eBook DIY Software Mortgage Calculators Home Selling Guide Home Buying Guide Ad Writing Tips Real Estate Forms Home Buying Checklist Utilities Connections Your Credit Report Glossary Real Estate News Edit Your Ad Modify Your Ad Cancel Your Ad Upload Photos Help/FAQ Home Selling - Home Selling Testimonials Sold in 6 hours! Piece of cake! Sold to first couple that looked at the house the very morning the ad came out! - R. Deloach Very good response. Would definitely use FSBO again. - Tony Christy Contract in first week with back up contracts! - Mrs. Doss I received 3 offers in one week! Was asking $149,900, received contract for $153,000. - Amy Benham Sold within 3 weeks! - J olene Baldwin Under contract in 5 days! Great response. - Joseph Barnes Piece of cake! The magazine hit the stands Friday, we had 4 offers by Sunday night! Thanks so much. - Judith Ballina Sold in 5 days! - Mickey Boyette It worked great. Lots of calls. Used FSBO contract, worked out great. Got lots of calls. - Matthew Davis I would definitely recommend FSBO. The class was very helpful. Selling by owner was easy and I saved thousands! - Lisa Davies Sold in one day! - Mr. Colvin Sold within one week-still getting calls closed today. Great response! - Arthur Carpenter Our house has been sold for the full asking price. Thanks for helping us in this effort! - Gail Gompers We have a contract on the house. It was on the market for 3 weeks! - Bob Aquino Sold in 13 days! - Greg Clarkson FSBO was easy and my home sold in 3 days! - Mrs. Gottlieb Sold 2nd day. Had 2 offers, the 2nd day. We bought our buyers home! - Susan Baker Never hit the magazine, sold on the internet. Sold in 72 hours! - Thomas Brown I would definitely recommend FSBO. The class was very helpful. Selling by owner was easy and I saved thousands! - Lisa Davies Sold in 6 days! - Mike Gwartney Sold in 1 week, I am still getting calls. - Mr. Hawk Could have sold 15 or 20 times. It all worked out just great. - Fay Edwards I don't have a support question. I just wanted you to know we took an offer on our home in less than eight weeks! We listed in the Wake Co. and had inquiries from as far away as Hawaii via the Web page! Not listing with a real estate agent allowed us to price our home at a fair market value, so the buyer got our home at a super price and we did better than if we had sold higher and paid even a 5% commission! We have recommended your service to everyone we know. Thanks, Dave Fox Just wanted to say thank you.......... With your help, we sold our home within a month and a half from the date of our listing. A task that our Real Estate Agent was unable to accomplish in over 6 months. In addition, your appraisal link was outstanding. We have and will continue to highly recommend your website to everyone we come in contact with.... SUPER JOB FORSALEBYOWNER.COM Thanks again, Jim & Cindy Linn By the way, your site is terrific. I sold my house on this site last August and this particular ad was for my Dad's house with also sold thanks to your great Web Site. Keep up the great work.Lorraine Miller Hello. We have been out of our house for 7 weeks, after selling it with you in 9 days. the savings we made by not using a Real Estate Agent allowed us to include a full basement on our new home. I recommended your company to a customer of mine. David. On Brisbane in lake in the hills. he called and listed with you the day after I told him what a great experience we had using your company, thanks again you guys are the best! Good Morning, and just wanted to let you know that your on-line program ishighly successful. I had at least 2 dozen persons or companies contactingme about selling my home. I picked one finally and sold the house. It wasonly through your program that this happened so quickly. In this neighborhood houses are taking months to years to sell. I went with you in March and sold the house on the 15th of April. Again, my heartfelt thanks, for you must know what a relief it is to have that pressure off.Thank you Very much. Walter 10070817 Unbelievably simple process. Wonderful buyers. First people to look atthe house bought it; we never got a chance to put the sign in the yard.Your service is outstanding and I'm shouting it from the mountaintops, telling all who ask about our great 'luck' in selling our house.Apparently the word is out among many people in this area since wecontinued to receive calls almost daily for the month that the ad was onyour site. I had dreaded the usual process for so long, but it couldn'thave turned out better! Thanks. Melissa I think your Website is one of the BEST sites I've been on. It's so easy tofind what you're looking for!! I wish all websites would design their siteslike yours!!!! Vicki Just a short note to let you all know how completely satisfied we were with your service. We couldn't believe the response we received from listing our house with you. We have already recommended you to several people and will continue to do so. Thanks again." D & B "I wanted to take the time to thank you for your help and assistance in the sale of my home. My only regret is that I did not advertise in For Sale By Owner Connection years ago! I went through countless real estate agents that did nothing for me except give me empty promises. The showings were at best minimal and I was always calling to find out what was going on as they never kept me informed. And for this kind of service I was forced to hand them 6% commission when it sold! When I heard about your organization, I immediately placed an ad. The phone never stopped ringing; I had several showings, and knew who I was dealing with. In a very short time, I was given a sizeable deposit and the rest is history, including the house. Thank you very much. I wish you folks all the best of luck. Your publication has made me and I'm sure a lot of folds very, very happy." McLaughlin, Jr. "Thank you for your support and encouragement. I appreciated advertising in the For Sale By Owner Connection, and always got a lot of calls each time it was published. I just closed last Friday, and received very close to the asking price. I must admit it was sure a nice feeling not to pay out that 6% commission! I saved over $9,000. Nice! Thanks again." J. Scata "We closed on our condo today! I just wanted to tell you what a great service I think you run! We listed with you only 2 months, and with no additional advertising our condo sold. It was definitely worth it, and resulted in savings of several thousand dollars! I have passed your name and # on to several other friends who are selling, and I would not hesitate to recommend you again. Thanks!!" C. Downes My home was listed with an agent for over a year with no results. I advertised with For Sale By Owner.com and Sold my home in 3 Weeks! Pat I had a buyer the first day the Magazine with my home hit the shelves. Thanks, Bluffdale Just wanted to let you know that our buyer came from you. We had over 150 calls. Jennifer We have received at least 20 call this week from your web site alone. Susan My home sold! What more can I say - Oh ya, I saved $11,326! Scott in Provo We were amazed at the response we got in a five week period after having been with Real Estate Agents for 4 years & no response. We ended up with 3-4 serious buyers. Advice & guidance in your book gave us so much confidence. We tell everyone this is the only way to sell their property. We1ve had our closing this week and are extremely pleased with the way this worked out. Thank you so very much for your help," "I received many calls as a result of my ad in your magazine. I still received calls even after my ad ran out." "Thank you FSBO. My home had been listed with Real Estate Agents for over a year. At the end of August, my contract expired & I listed my home with you. Within 3 weeks it was sold. I was able to lower my price because I didn1t have to pay a commission." "We sold our home through FSBO when all the Real Estate Agents told us it wasn't possible. Thanks for proving them wrong!" "We consider ourselves very lucky. We signed up for advertising for 8 issues. The people who bought our home saw our ad in the first issue we advertised in and an offer was made shortly thereafter. We continued to have telephone calls about the house up till & through closing. The staff was always helpful. The signs were professional. The video & book were very useful tools. We would do it again in the future." "Thank you for the professional services you offer homeowners who don't want to pay a Real Estate Agents Fee. In a tight market for sellers, your services offer the homeowner an attractive alternative. The Homeseller's Kit was most helpful and gave us the information we needed.." "The first issue our home was in FSBO prompted 8 calls. Less than 2 weeks later we signed a sale contract with one of these first callers. We are very happy with the results of your magazine. We will strongly recommend FSBO to anyone looking to sell or buy a home." "We are very pleased with the response to our ad - we have had dozens of calls, many showings, and we have two buyers. In two and a half months, we have had much more activity than a real estate company was able to provide in the 18 months that we were listed in the MLS. Thanks again." "We put our seasonal cottage in the For Sale By Owner magazine in early June. We had in excess of 50 inquiries and over 20 showings. We had several offers and accepted a contract on July 22 and closed on August 9. We are very happy with the response we got and would highly recommend For Sale By Owner to anyone selling a home." "We had our home listed with a real estate agency for 6 months to no avail. We then decided to drop the price by the percentage we would have to pay to real estate and we placed a sixth of a page ad in For Sale By Owner. Three days later, the second couple that came through our house purchased it. We are writing to you now because we had our closing on our home and everything went perfectly. Thank you For Sale By Owner for making it all possible. I would and have highly recommended you to anyone selling their home. We received so many calls from the ad (for weeks and weeks) and there was so much more action than when we had it in the hands of real estate." "We got terrific reaction from advertising in FSBO...as good if not better than during 6 months listed with a big shot Real Estate Agents. In our second issue we sold the house and have been telling later callers they were out of luck. For Sale By Owner works!" "We are happy with the "For Sale By Owner" system. The signs were professional and received many comments. We used the open house attachment on weekends resulting in several leads. After less than 60 days, we sold our house to a couple who were working with a Real Estate Agent and saw our house in your magazine. They asked the Real Estate Agent to arrange a showing. We took a deposit and sold the home!" "Thank you For Sale By Owner! Our home was listed with a very "popular" realty company two years ago - to no avail. We were discouraged and ultimately disgusted when our home did not sell. This year, we listed our home (at a much more reasonable price) in FSBO in May and signed a contract for the sale in June!. We are happily on our way to our new home. Thanks!" "We feel your service is very good. Whenever your guide came out we had many calls regarding our house. Your prices are reasonable and you reach a good deal of people. As a matter of fact, the person buying our home is from FSBO. Thank you for your service. It is reliable and it works!" "Just for your info, our house sold 50 days after we advertised with you. I was so surprised at all the response we got. You are a very worthwhile service. Thanks alot" "We placed our ad in FSBO and our buyers came to our home on two occasions to view the house - their third trip they put in an offer. By June 30th we had a signed contract - 2 weeks after our home started in your listing. We have had more than one offer! Many families prefer homes that are for sale by owner because they deal directly with the owner and obtain immediate answers without going thru a Real Estate Agent. The money saved is incredible. Thanks for your help." "Two days after the May 4th issue, I sold my home - the activity at the Open House and the phone calls were not to be believed!. We had 4 people working showing people through and all were tired at the end of the day from the steady stream of people wanting to see our home. I saved $11,000 by using For Sale By Owner. Great job." "I listed my house in your book & I sold it within 3 weeks of my ad. I had 22 phone calls & am very happy I used your For Sale By Owner. I am building another home in the spring & I will use your book again for this home. I could not believe the response received from this ad. I think its a great way to sell & list a home. Thank you." "We advertised our home in the Daily Gazette, the Times Union and For Sale By Owner. We had response from all three but the 1/6 page ad with the photo of the house was the best investment. We didn1t always ask which publication people had seen our ad in but the couple who bought our home had your magazine with them when they came. Your "Open House" signs made a very professional appearance through our neighborhood." "We were very satisfied with the many calls we received due to our ad. We do feel we could have sold the house many times over! When we think what a Real Estate Agent would have charged and what success we had with "For Sale By Owner", there is no doubt we will highly recommend your magazine to any one who is selling. Our many thanks again for your wonderful service. Continued good luck to you." "Our home had been on the market for almost two years with only one offer. I listed with FSBO and within 2 weeks we had a buyer. Thank you for your help. We must have received at least 100 calls. I am really pleased!" "We highly recommend your service! We sold our home in 2 weeks and saved $6,000 in real estate fees! We do suggest that people get a market value on their home before advertising it. You need to be realistic about the price & not add sentimental value to it." Many Thanks "Sorry I'm late in writing - we are so busy packing. The ads in your magazine brought a deluge of calls - over 100 calls! The people who called the first day bought the house. Thank you. Your magazine is doing a great job." "We put our seasonal cottage in the For Sale By Owner magazine in early June. We had in excess of 50 inquiries and over 20 showings. We had several offers and accepted a contract on July 22 and closed on August 9. We are very happy with the response we got and would highly recommend For Sale By Owner to anyone selling a home." "We had our home listed with a real estate agency for 6 months to no avail. We then decided to drop the price by the percentage we would have to pay to real estate and we placed a sixth of a page ad in For Sale By Owner. Three days later, the second couple that came through our house purchased it. We are writing to you now because we had our closing on our home and everything went perfectly. Thank you For Sale By Owner for making it all possible. I would and have highly recommended you to anyone selling their home. We received so many calls from the ad (for weeks and weeks) and there was so much more action than when we had it in the hands of real estate." "We got terrific reaction from advertising in FSBO...as good if not better than during 6 months listed with a big shot Real Estate Agent. In our second issue we sold the house and have been telling later callers they were out of luck. For Sale By Owner works!" "We are happy with the "For Sale By Owner" system. The signs were professional and received many comments. We used the open house attachment on weekends resulting in several leads. After less than 60 days, we sold our house to a couple who were working with a Real Estate Agent and saw our house in your magazine. They asked the Real Estate Agent to arrange a showing. We took a deposit and sold the home!" The ForSaleByOwner program is great! We sold our home in only 3 weeks while other homes around us that were listed with Real Estate Agents took months. It was a great experience and easy. Thanks for your help. Kirk and Jennifer We just wanted to thank you again for helping us sell our home on Bluffview and saving us over $5,000 in commissions. The money we saved with for sale by owner will allow a few more extras in the new house we are building. Keep up the good work! Tom and Rita Your company is fantastic! The money we saved and how easy it was to sell is unbelievable. I can't believe that everyone isn't using your services. It works and if we sell in the future, you'll have our business again. Jeff and Amy Demara Thank you for helping us sell our home. You saved us over $8,000 this time in commissions. The process went just as smoothly as the other two sales and we estimate that between the 3 properties, we've save over $23,000 in real estate commissions. I bet we hold the record as your best customer and will continue to recommend you to all our family and friends. Jim and LuAnn We sold in 4 weeks. The process was easy and very quick. Thanks for your help and keep up the good work. Scott and Wendy Thanks for your help. Your staff was very helpful and I would recommend you to anyone thinking about selling their home. Joanne Saved $12,000 Fantastic! We had our home listed with a Real Estate Agent for 6 months and we got very little activity so we decided to call you. We got more calls in the first 2 weeks than we did with our Real Estate Agent in 6 months. Our buyer saw our home on the internet while they were still in Texas trying to sell their home. I am going to recommend you to everyone I can - your company is unbelievable! Tonya "For Sale by Owner offered all the services we needed to sell our home by ourselves and allowed us the flexibility we needed. We would whole-heartedly recommend their services to anyone and everyone!" Shelly "I had my home on the market for three months with zero offers. Once we decided to give it a try and advertise with you, we sold it in less than one week!" -Richard Kelly "I received more calls from you than from any other advertising I've done. Now the house is under contract with a buyer who saw the home in For Sale by Owner." -Bill Duncan "We are thankful for the exposure we received through your service. And they provided us with all the resources we needed to sell our home!" Nancy Sold $379,900, 24 hours off the internet!!! I couldn't believe it the signs were up and my internet ad was just in, 20 calls in 24 hours and a buyer! Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Beamer Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" We had our rental house listed for 4 months with a local Real Estate Company with no response. We then listed with another Real Estate Company thinking that they would do a better job. After 3 months, and only 2 showings, we canceled our agreement with this Real Estate Company. We then signed up with the "For Sale By Owner .Com" system. Within a month's time, we had many qualified prospects (not just lookers) and wrote a contract with one of these perspective buyers. After this contract we showed it to 13 more prospects in case our contract fell through. All of these people came through your service. Sincerely, Mr. & Mrs. Brewer Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" We contracted for your package including advertising and Real Estate Agent MLS. We had good response from the magazine advertising, but because our house did not have a lot of curb appeal, we did not expect a lot of phone calls. However, we had 10 Real Estate Agents show our property through your MLS program, and we did write a contract. After our contract we had at least 20 more realtors wanting to show our house. We saved 3 percent by NOT using a listing agent, and we were very happy that we did not have to pay the normal 7 percent. We were extremely pleased with your service, and I'll refer you to all my friends. There is no better way to sell your home! Thank you! Mrs. Jaroch Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" "I could have sold my home 30 times over with the responses that I received from the "For Sale By Owner .Com Sincerely Mrs. LaFlash Sold Fast Cash!! Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" We had problems with our last home sale using a Real Estate Agent but with "For Sale By Owner .Com" Magazine "WE SOLD" - CASH DEAL!!! We're moving into our new home thanks to "For Sale By Owner .Com"! I definitely recommend the package - WHAT A DEAL!! Thank you again Mr. & Mrs. Amberg Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" I would like to thank "For Sale By Owner .Com" for the excellent responses on my property. I received many calls from both in-state and out-of-state prospective buyers. I knew from the amount of calls that I received that I would sell my home within 2 to 3 months. I sold it recently just as my ad was about to expire. The buyer agreed to my price of $125,000 and the sale is currently pending. I saved $7,500 in real estate fees and was able to help the buyer by offering him $2,000 towards his closing costs. I have previously sold homes through real estate companies but never have I had so many showings as I did by using "For Sale By Owner .Com" Thank you all for the excellent ad and photos on the Internet. I have recommended you to several prospective buyers who have asked me about you and who were thinking about selling their homes. I hope they were smart enough to follow through and use your service. Once again, THANK YOU "For Sale By Owner .Com"!!! Joseph & Tina Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" Now that we are settled in our new home I wanted to let you know how grateful we are to have had the benefits of your company to assist us in selling our home. We had researched several services that cater to the "for sale by owner" client but none of them offered the exposure that you did. The combination of the yard sign, magazine and internet site generated many telephone calls and more importantly, showings. We received an acceptable contract in less than 21 days because of your program. However, the best part of the entire deal was the amount of money we saved in real estate commissions! For the amount we would have put in someone else's pocket we were able to re-carpet the entire house and re-appliance the whole kitchen! We never would have been able to do that without selling our home on our own! A million thanks to you, we will definitely recommend you!!! Sincerely, Karen & Roger Dear for sale by owner What a program!!!!! As you know we had our house listed with a real estate agent for 6 months with no success. After our listing expired we decided to utilize your services. Our only regret is that we didn't come to you first. Using your program we sold our home on our own in less than 60 days and saved over $9000 in commissions. Thanks for all your help! We'll never need a real estate agent again! Best Regards, Bob Dear For Sale By Owner Magazine, Just a quick note to thank you for your wonderful program which helped us sell our home located at 397 Firestone Dr. in Delaware. We received dozens of phone calls and were in contract within 30 days. We closed within 55 days from the time our ad started and saved ourselves nearly $10,000 in sales commissions. We will definitely recommend your program to all our friends and neighbors. Thanks for all your help! Sincerely, Paul Dear For sale by owner From the day I first contacted your company, all your staff have been nothing but courteous and helpful. I was provided a professional listing on your website, I was listed in your magazine, I was provided signs, contracts, and preferred contacts to helpful legal and title services. Your program provided me the necessary exposure, traffic, and knowledge to sell my home quickly and efficiently. I held routine open houses and I always had good interest and traffic. Your program is simple, concise, complete, and results oriented. On top of all that I saved $ THOUSANDS $ of dollars by selling my home by myself rather than using a Real Estate Agent. D. Powell Dear For Sale By Owner The exposure our home received while listed with FOR SALE BY OWNER far exceeded our expectations. After three weeks on the market we were presented with a full price offer. Also, it offered us the opportunity to show our home instead of a Real Estate Agent. Who better to promote the sale of your home than yourself.I have and will continue to recommend FOR SALE BY OWNER to others. Satisfied customers, Mr. & Mrs. Allen Dear For Sale By Owner Publications: In just 60 days I sold my 2 investment properties through for sale by owner. The response was overwhelming. Between the 2 properties, I received 75 inquiries. 5 prospective buyers were disappointed because they delayed their decision to purchase. Because I sold the properties myself, I saved over $18,000 in real estate commissions. Wishing you well, Dolores Dear Rob and Jeff: Our house sold within two weeks of listing it with FOR SALE BY OWNER. We received lots of telephone calls and loads of people drove by to pick up flyers. Most of all, we saved money, too. Sincerely, June As a first-time property seller, I was skeptical and nervous about trying to save on commission by not using an agent. I was quite surprised to find that the entire process was so easy and I saved thousands of dollars that would have gone to an agent. Thanks Edward We signed up on a Friday and had a contract twelve days later and closed nine weeks later! The buyer found our home while giving his father-in-law a tour of Fort Collins. We saved $15,000 in real estate commission. Thank you for all your help -- especially Germaine! Vicki My experience was wonderful! The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and very courteous! My house was on the market for only 4 days and I had 6 calls within those few days. What a relief to sell so fast! I saved 6% off the selling price that didn't go to a real estate agent! My fiance has worked with your company also -- twice! He sold both times within two weeks! Angie for sale By Owner is an excellent service! The staff was always courteous and very helpful. We got a contract three days after placing the ad. The whole process was a very positive experience and we saved $11,400 in commissions! I highly recommend for sale by owner Rolanda Dear for sale by owner, My wife and I were a little skeptical at first, but we now sold on the "for sale by Owner" system. With the information packet and assistance of for sale by owner reps to answer all of our questions, the selling process was a piece of cake. we were able to sell our Thornton home, receiving many calls from around the Denver metro area. With your assistance we were able to save thousands of dollars it would have cost in Real Estate Agent commissions. We would not hesitate to sell another home through you. Sincerely, James & Stacy They said it couldn't be done! My friends doubted I could sell a $300,000,00 house by myself. For sale By Owner proved them all wrong. We had a contract in 30 days and received full price. What more can I say? You guys are great and I'd definitely do it all over again. Thanks! Best Regards, Mark To whom it may concern, We would just like to say "Thank You" for helping us sell our home. We only had the ad in 1 day and sold our home. We can honestly say that doing a FSBO was a breeze. It felt good saving the $ and doing it ourselves. We'll never use a Real Estate Agent again. For sale by owner really does work, especially if you believe in yourself."Thanks" You've earned our future business. Happy "New" Home Owners Michelle & Charlie Dear Homes For Sale By Owner, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for introducing me to the ONLY way that I will ever use to sell real estate; whether it by my own home or an investment property.As you may recall, my wife and I were faced with a situation that we needed to sell our first home after only having lived in it for 13 months. We were listing our home for $295,000, which means we would have to forfeit almost $18,000 in equity just to have a Real Estate Agent sell our home for us! We were also concerned because there was a very similar home to ours that had been unsuccessfully listed with different Real Estate Agents for almost a year without being sold. Fortunately for us, the couple that we purchased our home from had used For Sale By Owner, so we were definitely familiar with the concept. We especially liked the fact that this allowed us to show our own home to potential buyers. No outside party could possibly know as much about your own home as you do. The couple that ended up buying our home mentioned that a big selling point was to see first hand how much we cared about it. Almost 3 weeks to the day after we had our home listed with you, we had two couples fighting to sign a contract with us, for only $2,500 less than our asking price! We turned a situation where we initially thought we were going to lose $18,000 to one where we actually ended up making a nice profit on our home.Oh, by the waythat home that was similar to ours is still for sale. We signed our contract back in October. Thanks again for all of your help! Best Regards, F. and M. Davis Just wanted to let you know that we are under contract on the sale of our home Our closing date is set for 5/28/01. Thanks for providing a great service to homeowners. I was hesitant to try to do this alone until a Real Estate Agent called and told me that "everyone tries to sell by owner and within 2 months or so will then list". He said he could prove that "I would save more money in the long run by listing with an agent versus attempting to sell by owner". That was all the fire I needed. I picked up your magazine and attended the seminar. I knew after the seminar that my home would sell itself. Boy was the Real Estate Agent wrong, our home was under contract 4 weeks after listing with your service and you better believe I called him back and told him the good news that $10,890 was staying in my pocket versus his. His response was just "congratulations" and he hung up the phone. I just gleam inside every time I think about that phone call.... Score another one for the homeowner!. Thanks for all your help! Dave I will never use a Real Estate Agent again!! Selling by owner was so easy, it took only 8 days and my neighbors have been listed for 8-9 months! My ad brought calls from as far away as Texas and Denver but my buyer came from nearby Geneva. Know your market so you price your home right, right from the start and use Homes For Sale By Owner, Inc. Who wouldn't like saving the money we did? If you are selling a house, do it by owner. We had never sold a home this way but absolutely loved the process. If you think about it, since you have lived in your home, you know it better than any stranger, so you should be the one showing it. With the powerful advertising of F.S.B.O. you will sell by owner and save big too. Our buyer came from the Internet and with open and honest negotiations, face-to-face, we put the deal together. Thanks, For Sale By Owner! Even though we'd sold by owner before, we were at a slight disadvantage as we lived at a different house than we were selling. Yes, most people would have therefore given it to a Real Estate Agent but we knew the house and area better than any, so we placed our ad with For Sale By Owner. 3 weeks, 35 calls, 20 showings, and 6 potential buyers later we sold. Would we do it again? Definitely. There's no other choice than For Sale By Owner! For Sale By Owner really reached an area we couldn't touch with our local paper. With our ad we got easily over 30 calls from as far away as Chicago and as close as Wisconsin with our buyer coming from Elk Grove. Realtors charge a 7% fee here in Rockford so selling by owner even makes more sense. Even after selling we continued to get calls while under contract and people asked us to take their names down. Wow! We were still getting phone calls even after we moved and we have received between 200-300 phone calls during our ad placement in H.F.S.B.O. We really enjoyed having control of the sale and not having to deal with pushy or rude Real Estate Agents. The buyers from the magazine were polite and a pleasure to do business with. We are buying new furniture with our savings by owner. Thank you Homes For Sale By Owner! That's right. . .3 days! It happened so fast! The 1st person that came out to see the house bought. Having our townhome in great condition with fresh paint and showing it like a model saved us a lot of time. We will definitely use the you again. Not only did we sell fast but we saved so much money! Our neighbor that was listed at the same time with an agent is still on the market. Thanks again. We'd sell this way again in a heartbeat! Besides the "loads" of phone calls from Real Estate Agents, we got from our ad on average 2 calls a day. It took us approximately 7 weeks to get our contract and our buyer had just sold by owner too! Our neighbor who is listed with a Real Estate Agent can't believe how much action we received with the Homes For Sale By Owner program: the 1/4 page ad, the woodpost sign, and the internet. We saved big and so can you! Selling a manufactured home was not easy, to be honest, but For sale by owner went all out and offered all kinds of advertising advice. With the incredible advertising reach, calls came from as far away as Chicago with an average of 6-7 calls a week and my buyer came from Aurora. I was even listed on the MLS at the same time and calls came from For Sale By Owner 10 to 1 over the MLS. Buyers really pick up this magazine and it just so happens that's where I'm looking right now! Believe it or not, the average market time in our subdivision is 3-4 years! Needless to say, seeing a neighbor in the area sell by owner through F.S.B.O. in 1 month, kind of made it clear which way we were going to sell our home. It didn't happen overnight but we sold in 6 months and got our asking price. 98% of our calls came from you, we even got calls from California and Florida and our buyer came from Schaumburg. We would only sell through For sale by owner next time and we'd highly recommend the signs to compete with Real Estate Agents. WE DID IT!! So can you! We're thrilled we went by owner. Had we listed with a Real Estate Agent and sold, after paying a 6% commission we would have netted $30,000 LESS than selling ourselves! Our phone just kept ringing and still hasn't stopped. We showed the home only on Sundays when it worked into our schedules... We didn't have any Real Estate Agent telling us at any given moment that they needed to show our home. Selling our home using fsbo is the best present anyone has ever given us. Thanks Even when things seemed like everyone else would sell but us, we remained determined we would do it. Perhaps the fact that this wasn't our 1st time selling by owner had something to do with our confidence. We really liked being in control of the process when selling by owner. When selling through a Real Estate Agent, you never know what is being said to buyers, since normally you aren't there. We also knew our home so much better than any Real Estate Agent so we were confident we'd show it better. We were right. It didn't happen with "lightning speed" but we sold it ourselves and saved a lot of $! Thanks again After 9 months of listing with 2 Real Estate Agents and after seeing how things weren't moving in my area, I decided to give it a try, the "for sale by owner" way. Well I did it, and with 4 written offers, plus 4 additional back-up people if things didn't work out. Sell by owner . . . it really works! We sold our home and saved thousands with For sale by owner. You did everything you said you would do. Through full color photo advertising on your website, and the flyers you provided us.The benefits of selling our own home were great. Thank you again for your help in making the sale of our home more economical, more convenient, and easier for us. James & Ruth B. - Clear Lake I have sold four houses using FSBO, saving me over $35,000 in commissions. Paula I want to thank both of you for having created this business. I would certainly gone into foreclosure without you. Thank You. I believe in this system. It is about time homeowners had the option of listing their house having to pay a huge, unnecessary commission. In my case, finding you was a gift from heaven. Jesica I tried to sell my home for six months using a Real Estate Agent and/or the classifieds. With you I sold my home in just two weeks! And we are still getting calls! Thanks. Ann You have a great program! It really works! I sold my house "by owner" and saved over $6,500 in commissions. I am going to tell all my friends about your service. BJ - Pearland I sold my home in three weeks using your services, saving $10,000 in commissions! Gail It's a great service. Maybe offer a local agent to handle paperwork for purchase at a fixed fee. Some states escrow can get complicated. Very happy with forsalebyowner.com website. Two real estate Co's tried to sell this property for two years. It took 5 months for internet. We have had over 1200 hits and only 1 inquiry and that was our buyer. Thank you. Connie Nahser I think your site works extremely well and I thank you for your careful planning. It is user friendly and allowed us to appeal to what we knew was a niche market for historic homes. Together with a very short newspaper ad referring to the web site we got a lot of inquiries from the kind of buyers we hoped to attract. Again, thanks!! Great tool for exposure!!! I would strongly recommend using the "forsalebyowner" web site. After three weeks of local advertising, we placed an ad on your web site. Our house sold in less than 5 days. The internet exposure did the trick. Thank You. Carmeline Gross We are closing on Nov 19th. Thank you for your service -- I have recommended it to others. We have 3 others waiting in line if this does not close. Lots of responsesWe will recommend your program. Thanks again, Burt & Carol Our home was sold within 2 months of listing! Thank You !!! The process of selling a home by ourselves is more than my wife and I have time for now. While I believe that your service has been beneficial, and would eventually result in the sale of my property, we must now turn to a Real Estate Agent to take over the process. I will definitely recommend your service to others. Thank you. You have to have the time! Too many unqualified buyers. Agents do not want to work with you. Had a contract on the house in 3 weeks! "OUR HOME SOLD IN 1 DAY AFTER THE MLS WAS POSTED. THIS PROGRAM SAVED US ~$6,000.00 THANKS FOR THE SAVINGS, GARY AND DIANE. I can't think of a thing you could have done better. We are very satisfied with the service we received. The fact that we could edit our ad at will is especially valuable as we were able to respond based on feedback from those who inquired. Selling the condo was nice and easy thanks to For Sale By Owner. We used the tips that you gave to include the web site in our newspaper ad. With the combination of the internet and local paper, were able to sell within a month. Thank you. Everything went great our home was under contract in just 5 days. The yard sign with direction signs worked out great. Folks drove by on the main road found their way in and then checked us out on the Internet. It is a great system!! It proved to be a great marketing tool - Thanks!! None- I sold my home in about a month without picutures! Your site have literally saved me thouands of $$. Thank you. we recieved almost 2,500 hits and it took only 3 months to have my house sold to a couple from north carolina, Thanks, Jim Haldeman. Would like better image viewing capabilities, something like the ability to view thumbnails that directly popped up larger images. I would also like to see a somewhat of a standard format for room sizes and features, similar to what MLS has. Thanks for helping me to sell my home. Phil Parker I was very pleased with the success of the sale of my house. In 7 days I had two asking price offers. We went to Act of Sale 51/2 weeks after my listing it. The sale seminar was extremely helpful and Damon and Cathy made themselves endlessly available for guidance. Thank you VERY MUCH!!!! Joda Fuxan Privacy & Disclaimer Partner With Us Career Opportunities Press Room Contact Us Buying A Home Your Credit Report Terms and Conditions Home Selling Tips Selling Your Home 1997-2005 For Sale By Owner.com Home Selling Testimonials A home selling source for commission free selling of a home. Site Map Home Home Selling - Selling Home

Buy property in France

Guide to Buying a House Abroad Guide in UK Net Guide: Homes & Property Home Business Money & Finance Jobs & Education TV Guide News & Weather Arts & Entertainment Homes & Property Lifestyle & Dating Sports & Leisure Health & Fitness Travel & Holidays Shopping & Gifts Motoring Homes & Property Property Gardening Furniture DIY Rate This Guide Not Rated -- Web Search GO Local Business Finder GO Sorry, you need inline frames to see this poll. Home >> Homes & Property >> Guides >> Guide Homes & Property Guide to Buying a House Abroad More than two million Britons own a home abroad, and more and more of us dream of jumping on the same bandwagon. But whats involved? How do I find a home abroad? Most people spot something while they are on holiday. Otherwise, several magazines list foreign properties for sale, including Exchange & Mart, Homes Overseas and Foreign Property News, and there are hundreds of websites offering overseas sales. Im really keen to proceed Its time for a reality check. Half drunk on sun and sangria and on a break from the office, almost anywhere can seem appealing. Ask yourself these questions: What is this house like in winter? What happens to the local area in the off season? Do I want to go to the same place every year? Are you prepared to spend your holidays organising foreign builders, roping in friends and doing the hard graft yourself? Have you considered the cost of getting to your holiday home? Cheap flights have opened up large parts of Europe to British buyers, but dont assume that those routes will be there forever of or that prices will stay low. Dont assume your house will rise in value. This is a peculiar British obsession. If you are buying thinking you can sell at a profit later, you could be disappointed. It may make more financial sense to rent. How do I raise the money? If you can buy with cash, do it. You will own the property outright without increasing your mortgage debt. This will mean fewer bills. If you don't have the cash, there are two ways to pay for a foreign home. You can extend your main mortgage, or you can get a new mortgage for the property. Extending your mortgage is presently a cheap way of raising cash, but you may not be able to get a remortgage for more than 75% of the property's price. But remember, you risk losing both homes if you cannot keep up payments. The other option is to take out a second mortgage on your holiday home. Several High Street companies offer mortgages overseas, including Abbey National and Barclays. Conti Financial services in East Sussex is one of many companies that can arrange mortgages for homes abroad. You often have to have at least 10% of the price in cash. Can I get a mortgage in the local currency? Yes, but you need to be aware of all the risks. Taking out a foreign currency mortgage could be dangerous. You are exposed to currency fluctuations: the pound can move against the euro or the dollar - if it weakens, your payments will increase. On the other hand if you are buying property in another country your home will be valued in that currency so it could make more sense to borrow in that currency. How long will it take to complete? It depends on the country you are buying in. Buy property in France and it could take up to 20 weeks to complete the transaction. In Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal it will average between 12 to 18 weeks. Be aware the longer it takes to complete the transaction the more at risk you are from rate fluctuations, which could add thousands to the real cost of the property in the time it takes to complete. I don't speak the language You will need a reputable solicitor and valuer who is local. Your bank or mortgage lender should be able to help you find these professionals who also speak English. The Federation of Overseas Property Developers, Agents and Consultants has a list of lawyers who specialise in buying abroad. Beware that in some countries lawyers act for you and the seller, so make sure you're getting independent advice. Talk to a British lawyer before you sign anything, and remember, you often cannot pull out of an agreed offer as you can in England and Wales. Are there any hidden costs? Almost certainly. Britain has some of the cheapest home-buying costs in Europe. For example, French legal fees are high - ranging between 10% and 18% of the house price. There is also a regional tax and an occupancy tax if you live there more than eight months a year. In Spain, valuation costs 100, and loans must be signed by the public notary. This costs 580 on a 45,000 mortgage. Taxes and legal fees will normally amount to at least 10% of the property value. What about day to day running costs? The buying process is the not the end of the expense. Check carefully what local taxes you must pay, and be aware that in many blocks of flats you have to pay a service charge. You'll need to open a local bank account, as services such as water and electricity may only connect you if you sign a direct debit. Local bills must be paid in local currency - this costs money to buy and in some cases foreign banks charge extra for transactions. Are there tax implications? Yes. If you rent out your property abroad income will have to be declared to the British taxman. Check out the tax laws of the country you're buying in. There may be implications if you rent or sell the house. Many countries have reciprocal tax agreements with the UK so that you don't end up paying tax twice. You also need to make a will, as local inheritance tax laws may also come into play. Most of Europe is governed by Napoleonic law, which means that your children and spouse will be entitled to a share of your estate. This can create inheritance tax problems in the UK, where only assets left to a spouse are exempt from IHT. Get good advice. How do I insure my home? Ask your own home insurer if they offer a deal to insure a property abroad. Average User Rating: Not Rated -- Sponsored Links Buying in the Sun? Barclays' European mortgages and bank accounts - in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Guide to Moving Abroad Thinking of buying abroad? Try this site for advice and ideas. Save Money when Buying Property Abroad Great exchange rates, expert guidance, no commission and fast transactions. Make your money go further with Moneycorp. Advertising | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Email Us | Add URL | FAQ © UK Net Guide 2000-2005. All Rights Reserved. Thousands of properties on Loot.com now! Tools & Search Property Search Auction Search Compare Utilities Flatshare Search Home Insurance Search Mortgage Search New Homes Search Repossessed Homes Other Useful Guides More Guides... Answerbank's Popular Threads How to get you intrested Powermax 155x boiler lock-out gardening leaking mixer tap cold water side central heating boiler Cold shower - HELP!!! Showers with Body jets Tip of the day Ask a Question More from Answerbank about us | make us your homepage | add to favourites switch to answerbank

land loan submission checklist

Land Loan Financing Specializing in many types of financing programs, including working with a Non-recourse loan (Non recourse loan), Apartment mortgage loan, Joint venture real estate, Commercial equity loan, Commercial rehab loan, Structured financing, and Shopping center loan. Of course we're known for our experience in dealing with: land development loans, hard money loans, apartment loans, industrial building loans, and real estate equity. land financing programs > land loan submission checklist Land Loan Submission Checklist Typical documents to be submitted to obtain a Letter of Interest/Loan Quote with amount, terms and conditions: 1. Executive Summary or Outline describing the Project: Land Loan Executive Summary 2. Borrower's Resumes: Include experiences in the area of land development 3. Financial Information: Personal financial statement for the borrower(s) and/or guarantor(s) Proposed budget for the development List of construction cost estimates 4. Sources and Uses of the loan proceeds 5. Color Photos and Aerial Photo 6. Salient Exhibits: Market survey and demographic information Site plan and location maps Competitive property analysis Phase I environmental report Copy of the latest appraisal Engineering report Purchase contract, if an acquisition Title Report Land Entitlement Checklist Development Loan Checklist Rate and terms are subject to change without notice home | loan programs | GCG news | interest rates | mortgage financing tools | apartment loan | income property loan programs land development loan | land financing checklist | real estate equity & capital structures | mortgage purchases | credit tenant loans hard money loans | about us | contact us | apply online | linkresources | subscribe to financingnewsletter Other programs include: non-recourse loan | apartment mortgage loan | joint venture real estate commercial equity loan | commercial rehab loan | structured financing | shopping center loan Need to discuss a transaction? Please contact an Account Executive . © 2006 Grace Capital Group, Inc., Irvine, CA. Please read our Website Legal Disclaimer . Grace Capital Group is licensed by the California Department of Real Estate. Site design by Specialized MarketingAgency